Kakashi of the Sharingan
by Enbi
Summary: "Well," he thought to himself. "I guess the name Sharingan no Kakashi would actually be true this time." (Kakashi gets reborn as Uchiha Ryuusui, twin brother to Uchiha Shisui. He takes it upon himself to save the world, and he might even save the Uchiha clan in the process. Time travel, sort of.) HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

Hatake Kakashi was dying.

He had lived a long life, filled with lots of pain and heartache, but with good things too. The faces of his loved ones surrounded the hospital bed that he was lying down on. On one side of the bed, there were those he would be leaving behind. Naruto was ugly crying, as was Sakura, and even the ever-stoic Sasuke let out some tears. Yamato was there too, and although his face was emotionless the raw pain was clear in his eyes. On the other side, he saw those who were no longer living (_Rin, Obito, Sensei, Gai_), smiling and laughing like they were sharing a secret joke.

His last thought as his eyes drifted shut was, _What's so funny?_

* * *

><p><em>(age zero)<em>

He was bored. So bored. He knew everyone in heaven was laughing at him, he just knew it. At least his chakra control was on point, because molding chakra was just about the only thing he could do when confined to his goddamn crib.

"Ryuu, Shi, time for food!"

The inner pervert in him was conflicted. On one hand, boobs. On the other hand, they were his new mom's boobs.

He couldn't wait until he was old enough to feed himself.

* * *

><p><em>(age one)<em>

Hooray! He could hold his own milk bottle! Now if his mother would just _give _him the bottle so he could eat…

"Ryuu-chan, Shi-chan, if you say 'okaa-san' then I'll give you your milk! Say it, ready? 'Okaa-san.' Now you try!"

Shisui, the little overachiever, had been watching mother with rapt attention. He dutifully parroted, "Kaa."

Mother's face lit up, and she eagerly looked to Ryuusui who was trying to reach the bottle while she was distracted. She pulled it out of his reach, and fixed him with a stern look. "Say 'okaa-san' first."

Ryuusui gave the tiniest sigh, before saying, "Okaa-san."

As his mother's eyes widened with shock, Ryuusui thought he might have overdone it. He remembered belatedly that babies didn't really pronounce things well. Oh well, couldn't take it back now. Might as well go all the way.

"Food. Now." he grunted, dumbing down his vocabulary to what he thought was believable. His mother's eyes gained a calculating gleam.

* * *

><p><em>(age three)<em>

Ryuusui was prepared. He had his blanket with him and his stuffed dog, along with a book he planned to "learn" how to read.

"Read," he demanded.

His mother glanced at him and absentmindedly said, "Later, sweetie."

Well, he had no more choice. "WAAAA! READ NOW!"

"Ryuu—"

"READ NOW!"

"RYUU—"

"_READ NOW!"_

"FINE, you little brat," his mother grumbled. She was fighting a smile though, Ryuusui could tell. He clambered up on her lap, stuck his thumb in his mouth, and gave her the puppy dog eyes.

She laughed and ruffled his hair, "All right, all right. Now, this says 'kunai'. Can you repeat after me? Good. This is the tiger handseal, can you try it out for me? Good. Now…"

* * *

><p>Uchiha Ryuusui had always been a strange little boy. He was undeniably a genius, a prodigy among prodigies, the likes of which had never been seen before, but at the same time he was a rather lazy, sleepy child.<em>. <em>He had silver hair, when by all rights it should have been coal black like his twin brother Shisui, with which he was identical in every other way. He scared the life out of his mother when, at three years old, he stood with his soles glued to his bedroom wall with chakra. ("Mom! Look at what I can do!")

But none of these things were as strange as the fact that Ryuusui wasn't his only name. Once upon a time, Uchiha Ryuusui's name was Hatake Kakashi.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter notes:<strong>

Shisui's name can be spelled as 止水, which means "still water". Kakashi's new name, Ryuusui, can be spelled as 流水, which means "running water". But in keeping with the way Uchiha names are usually spelled, Kakashi's new name is written with hiragana.


	2. Chapter 2

_(age four)_

When Obito had given Kakashi the Sharingan's power in both eyes, he would never forget what it felt like. He could finally understand why the Uchiha were so prone to going mad with the doujutsu's power: the heady, potent chakra necessary for a proper Sharingan felt like a drug. It felt like the place somewhere between fear and elation, and it was addicting as hell. Ryuusui tried as best he could to go back to this place as he closed his eyes and deepened his breathing—getting his Sharingan could only mean good things for him if he wanted to go about messing with time. He remembered his past life, and how things had turned out okay in the end. But, he reasoned, who was to say that things would be the same this time around? After all, he had no memories of Uchiha Shisui ever having a twin brother.

There was also the matter of possibly saving Obito. He was about eight years older than Itachi in his old life and a year younger than Obito, and in this life since he would be two years older than Itachi, he would be about… seven years younger than his old teammate? Which meant that Obito would be 11 years old. Although, he remembered that Obito was an orphan and most likely lived alone, so he would probably live on an entirely different side of the Uchiha district. Ryuusui didn't think he would be let out to go exploring anytime soon; there went that plan. Plus, Obito had just made chuunin, and therefore would be off on more missions since the Third Shinobi War was going on.

And in that moment, he made a decision: he wouldn't take events in this world's timeline for granted, but he would use his past life's knowledge to the best of his ability to help himself and maybe save Obito in this one. It was a long shot and seemingly impossible, but one look at his lovably idiotic blond student would tell you that the impossible could, in fact, be accomplished. No one ever said saving the world would be easy. He wasn't too sure about the whole being reborn as an Uchiha thing, because if his memories were anything to go by they were involved in some pretty shady stuff, but he would give them the benefit of the doubt since they were the card that he'd been dealt with.

"_Ryuu, where are you—oh. Hee hee, you look so cute when you're sleeping! I have to get the camera—this will be the cutest picture ever!"_

As he thought this, his resolve burned, rising in him like the will of a Kami, and he felt the strangest burning in his eyes. His eyes snapped open, spinning red with one tomoe each, and in that moment when the camera's shutter clicked, he would go down in history as the only Uchiha to gain their Sharingan while taking a nap.

* * *

><p><em>(age five)<em>

Ryuusui frowned. He really needed to get stronger, because Obito would be coerced by Madara soon, and although he couldn't stop that, he could perhaps stop Rin's death. Which was the catalyst of Obito's crazy. His plan had the upside of making his new clan proud.

Wait. Had he really started to think of the Uchiha clan as _his_? He speculated that his current form was affecting his mentality, but he put it away as something to ponder later.

"Ryuu, whatcha doin'?" Shisui, his adorable twin, asked.

"I'm meditating, 'cause I'm trying to feel my chakra," Ryuusui mumbled. He was trying to see if he had a lightning affinity in this life, as well as the obligatory Uchiha fire affinity. He probably couldn't do the Chidori, if his past self were running around, but perhaps the Raikiri? It was… different enough. Maybe. Probably not, damn it all. He mourned the loss of his favorite jutsu. "Go 'way," he said morosely.

Shisui pouted. "I wanna feel my chakra too. What's a chakra, Aniki?"

Ryuusui groaned. Don't get him wrong, he rather enjoyed the feeling of having a family this time around, but sometimes they were just so _hard_ to deal with. "Chakra is an energy that all of us have. It's a combination of spiritual and physical energy—"

"Sounds boring," Shisui cut in with a skeptical look on his face.

"You're being distracting. Leave me alone." Ryuusui grumbled.

He knew he had said wrong when his twin's expression crumpled and he saw the first signs of tears. "Otouto…" he sighed.

"FINE!" Shisui stomped away.

Ryuusui huffed and closed his eyes, and… was unable to concentrate. _Damn it._

"Otouto, wait up! I'm sorry…" Why did he even feel guilty? It wasn't like Shisui was his real brother—

_Shisui laughing and chasing Ryuusui with a garden snake he'd found. Shisui crying when that asshole, what's-his-name, was being mean to him, and Ryuusui's (Kakashi's) inexplicable urge to kick his ass. Babbling about how he wanted to be a ninja for both the clan and the village, shrieking when Ryuusui rubbed catnip on his pants, getting mobbed by cats, saying Aniki as his first word—_

Ryuusui clutched his head and moaned. He had to deal with a stupid weak body, and now a slowly fracturing psyche? In the words of the Nara, it was so damn troublesome.

* * *

><p>"Ryuusui, Shisui, today is a very important day. We will be going to the clan heir's third birthday party."<p>

_Itachi_, Ryuusui thought.

"Yes, okaasan," the twins chorused dutifully. Shisui gave Ryuusui a dirty look. He was still upset over their little fight the other day.

As they walked to their shared room, Ryuusui winced before asking, "Otouto, I said I was sorry."

Shisui frowned, before nodding. "I know, it's just that sometimes… I can't help but feel jealous. You've always been so much smarter than me, you know? Plus, you already have your Sharingan," he said defeatedly.

Ryuusui instantly felt bad. He had been so focused on his personal goals that he wasn't cherishing the family he'd been gifted with this time around. An idea came to him, and though it made dread well up in the pit of his stomach, he forced himself to say, "Hey, otouto? We're twins, and twins are closer than normal siblings, who are already pretty damn close. So there's something I have to tell you…"

* * *

><p>"…And so that's basically what happens in the future," Ryuusui finished.<p>

Shisui just gaped at him dumbly.

"Otouto? You okay?" Ryuusui waved a hand in front of Shisui's unseeing expression.

He began to regret his decision to tell his little brother. _I really should have thought this through, and now that I think of it this seems more like something Naruto would do, which is never a good sign…_

"Wait, so you become _Hokage _in the future?" Shisui looked at him with starstruck eyes.

"_That's _what you're stuck on?" Ryuusui was in disbelief.

"Well, I'm trying not to focus on my horribly tragic and heroic death, and the fact that the entire clan dies," his twin said while rolling his eyes.

"Ehehe, yeah…" Ryuusui winced and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"So, how are we gonna change it all?" the younger twin asked in all seriousness.

Ryuusui was thrown for a loop for the second time in as many minutes. A child's ability to recover from shock still astounded him. "What."

"Well, we're obviously not gonna let that shitty future come to pass," Shisui reasoned.

Ryuusui was aghast. "Otouto! Where did you learn that word?"

"Does it matter? We're talking about the fate of the world here!"

"Look, otouto. It might not even happen here. I'm not even sure that this is the same universe, because I sure as hell don't remember you ever having a twin brother."

"Well I'm glad that I live in this world then," said Shisui. "You're the best Aniki ever."

Ryuusui was NOT blushing as he said, "Otouto…"

Nope. Definitely not blushing.

* * *

><p>The party was the sort of organized pandemonium that only Uchiha hellions could accomplish. Ryuusui surveyed the area with the air of a man scoping out enemy territory. Shisui clutched his twin's hand in desperation, as he took in the chaos spread out before him.<p>

"Get back here, Izanagi! Don't put that in your mouth!" A heavily pregnant mother shouted at an impish-looking little boy. She sighed and turned to the little girl standing next to her. "Izanami, please get your brother to stop chewing on that senbon. Mommy's feet are tired."

"Hai, okaa-sama." The little girl solemnly responded. She toddled up to her twin and whispered, "Nagi, where'd you get that?"

"Swiped it from Obi-dobe," he snickered. Ryuusui shot to attention. Could it be?

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?"

Stomping around the corner came the twelve-year-old form of Uchiha Obito.

* * *

><p>Chapter Notes: The ages in the manga confuse me somethimes, so the ones I've written down here are what I'm going with. This is actually more of a side project for me, so the chapters will be pretty short like this one.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

**Last chapter:**

"_WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?"_

_Stomping around the corner came the twelve-year-old form of Uchiha Obito._

* * *

><p>Ryuusui froze, and the sounds of falling rocks thundered in his ears. He saw the image of Obito's peaceful smile in death superimposed over his young, unmarred face.<p>

Which looked pretty pissed off.

"Well, you little brats? What did you—HEY! That's my senbon, give it here!" Obito said indignantly.

Izanami and Izanagi exchanged an impish glance and said in unison, "Sorry, Obito-nii."

Obito's face broke out into a wide grin. "Aw, I can't stay mad at you guys. Off you go, back to your mother, you little brats."

As the other set of twins scampered off, he paused for a moment and peered curiously at Ryuusui. His face took on a strange expression, and he said thoughtfully, "Hey… you kinda remind me of someone."

For a moment it almost seemed as if Obito _recognized _him, which was a strange thought. Ryuusui forgot to breathe in that moment, and fought to not refer to himself as Kakashi in his head. It was a habit he thought he'd ridden himself of a long time ago.

"I-I'm Ryuusui," he said as much to himself as he did to Obito.

A look of recognition. "Oh! You're the newest prodigy, huh…" His expression instantly soured. "I only know one other prodigy, and I hope you're not like him."

The part of Ryuusui that was still Kakashi felt like he had gotten Chidori'd through the chest. "Why would you say that? Is he… a bad person?" he asked hesitantly, almost afraid to know the answer.

Obito's expression softened. "Naw, he's not a bad guy. But he's unhappy a lot, which makes him really grumpy. And you're just too young and cute to be such a sourpuss," he said and pinched Ryuusui's cheek.

He slapped his hand over the place Obito had pinched. "Oy!" he exclaimed with a pout.

Obito laughed. Then he said, "I heard you have your Sharingan already," with ill-concealed jealousy.

"Yeah," Ryuusui said warily.

Obito looked at him consideringly. "I have a mission coming up soon. It's top-secret, but I can say that we'll be blowing shit up," he said with a wink. "Anyways, after the party you should see if you can stop by my apartment. I've got a little something that should help you out."

Ryuusui's interest was piqued. "Okay," he said slowly.

"Great!" Obito was grinning again. He held out a hand and said, "Alright, cousin. Let's mingle."

Ryuusui laughed and took the proffered hand.

* * *

><p>Shisui was, to put it plainly, Pissed Off.<p>

Ryuusui had totally ditched him for like three hours, and he got stuck watching the babies! Granted, they were pretty adorable (Uchiha babies always were, in his opinion), but still. Who the hell trusted a five year old to do that?

He saw his twin's distinctive head of silver hair and instantly brightened, but scowled when he saw who was holding his twin's hand. His scowl deepened when he saw Ryuusui laugh at something the older boy said. He pouted. Was Ryuusui-nii replacing him?

"Oy! Ryuusui-nii, get over here!" he called out, waving at his twin. His mother taught him manners, so he was polite when he turned to his twin's companion and said, "Who the heck are you?"

Judging from Ryuusui's disapproving frown, he hadn't done too good of a job. "Shi, this is Obito-nii," his twin said with a glance that said _be polite or else_.

Shisui ignored him and crossed his arms, saying, "Why d'you have to take my Aniki!"

Ryuusui huffed, frustrated. "Shisui, Obito-niisan is an orphan. We gotta be his nii-sans!"

The younger boy's eyes widened, and he looked down, cowed. He felt ashamed. "I'm sorry, niisan."

Obito looked rather poleaxed, but managed to say, "It's fine, kiddo. No hard feelings, eh? Now don't look so down." He smiled and ruffled Shisui's hair. At the younger boy's whine, he laughed.

He looked down at the third set of coal black eyes looking up at him with rapt attention. "And who might you be, little guy?" he asked with a fond smile on his face.

"This is Itachi-chan," Shisui said. Itachi pouted at the demeaning honorific.

Ryuusui was shocked. This was _the _Uchiha Itachi? An adorable three-year-old?

Itachi had always been a rather mythic figure in Kakashi's mind. The way his broody student referred to him, as though he wasn't truly human, contributed to this. And when Sasuke had found out the truth about the Uchiha Massacre, it only cemented Itachi's deified status in his mind. To Sasuke, Itachi was the ultimate standard, the pinnacle of everything a ninja should be. Some of that had rubbed off on him when he was Kakashi. But strangely enough, when he had found out about the truth behind the Massacre, it only served to make Itachi more human in his mind. Itachi was just… a person. A person stuck in this war-torn world, trying to do his best with the circumstances he was given. What could be more human than that?

Ryuusui resolved to do the same thing. He could only do his best, right? In a better world, the massacre might have been averted for a more peaceful resolution, but with the current state of the world it just wasn't feasible.

As he looked around at the smiling faces of Uchiha children, he thought that maybe, just maybe, he could try to make that peaceful world happen.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Notes:<span> Sorry it's so short! I've been busy with my other projects.


	4. Chapter 4

**Last chapter:**

_In a better world, the massacre might have been averted for a more peaceful resolution, but with the current state of the world it just wasn't feasible._

_As he looked around at the smiling faces of Uchiha children, he thought that maybe, just maybe, he could try to make that peaceful world happen._

* * *

><p>"Oi! Ryuusui-nii?" Shisui asked with a worried frown on his face. "You weren't responding."<p>

_You just interrupted a very important internal monologue, _Ryuusui wanted to say, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Obito poked him in the forehead. "Itachi-chan wanted to see your Sharingan," he said with a small smile.

"Oh," Ryuusui said, surprised. He closed his eyes and channeled chakra to them. They snapped open, blood-red, the tomoe in them spinning in time with the beating of his heart.

"Whoa!" Itachi exclaimed, eyes wide and starry with admiration.

"My Aniki's the coolest," Shisui said proudly.

"I'll say," Obito nodded in agreement, smiling slightly, and to his credit was only slightly jealous-looking.

Uncomfortable with the attention, Ryuusui mumbled, "It's getting late."

Obito brightened. "Oh yeah! Ask your mom if you can come with me to my apartment!"

Ryuusui acquiesced, and walked over to where his mother was deep in an animated conversation with Mikoto.

"Okaa-san?" He tugged on her skirt to get her attention.

"Yes, love?" she responded absentmindedly.

"Can I go with Obito-nii over to his apartment? He said he had something to give me."

A frown momentarily flickered over his mother's face, but she assented. "Do you know how to get back home?" she asked worriedly.

"Yes, yes," he waved her concerns away.

"Take your brother with you, okay?"

Ryuusui, already walking over to Obito, acknowledged her words with a nod. "Shi," he called out. "Let's go to Obito-nii's apartment."

Shisui looked at Ryuusui from where he was playing "Pin the Senbon on the Missing-Nin" with chibi!Itachi and the other children, and perked up. Itachi visibly _pouted _at the loss of attention, and wow wasn't that weird to see?

"Kay," Shisui chirped. "Bye, Itachi-chan!"

The three-year-old waved farewell, and Obito and the twins set off.

* * *

><p>The trio was waylaid on their way to Obito's apartment many times by the older boy's endearing and slightly aggravating tendency to help every little old lady with her groceries and rescue every single cat stuck in a tree. Ryuusui knew his old teammate liked helping people out, but this was getting kind of ridiculous.<p>

"Obito-nii, are we ever going to your place? Or are we just going to walk around all day?" Shisui groused.

The older boy chuckled sheepishly and said, "Maa, maa, we'll go there now, okay?" Ryuusui snickered at Shisui's adorably disgruntled expression.

They walked up to a modest-looking apartment, and Obito motioned for the two boys to stay outside. "It's super messy in there," he said by way of explanation. The sounds of rummaging came from inside, and when he came out, he was holding a pair of familiar-looking orange goggles.

"I'll give you my spare pair of these. You have to wear them since you have your Sharingan already, because those eyes of yours are special and need to be protected, okay?" He knelt down and fixed the goggles around Ryuusui's head. If his eyes were suspiciously wet, Obito graciously didn't say anything.

"And as for you," he turned to Shisui. "Since you don't have your Sharingan yet, I don't have anything for you except for advice: take care of that brother of yours for me. He's talented, I'll give him that, but one day all that talent is going to come back and cut him. You have to watch out for that, okay?" He ruffled Shisui's hair.

"Okay, I have to get ready for my mission now," he admitted. "I'll walk you guys home." The walk back to the twins' house was filled with quiet contemplation.

Later that night, Ryuusui couldn't sleep. Itachi's birthday was on June 9th, while they had left for the mission to Kannabi bridge on June 10th.

_Obito's going straight to Madara and there's nothing I can do to stop it, _he thought. _No one would believe a kid, and I don't exactly want my brain turned to mush by a Yamanaka. There's a reason they don't perform their jutsu on children._

He tried to comfort himself with these thoughts, but deep inside he knew that his dreams would be plagued by his visions of Obito's death. Still, he closed his eyes and did his best to go to sleep.

_"You're a coward," Obito spat. "A piece of trash. You got this new chance, and you're wasting it."_

_The rocks were falling. Always, they were falling._

"_I'll become your eye… and see the future with you…" Obito croaked, and Ryuusui felt like a miserable excuse of a human being._

_Obito was dying he was dying and Rin was crying Rin please stop crying there was nothing Kakashi (or was it Ryuusui? he couldn't tell anymore) could do about it please no no no nonononoNO—_

Ryuusui woke up, gasping, and for the first time in his new life, he relinquished his ironclad control over his five-year-old instincts and sobbed.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Notes:<span> I... actually like this chapter? Huh. Anyways, let me know what you thought!


	5. Chapter 5

**Last chapter:**

_Ryuusui woke up, gasping, and for the first time in his new life, he relinquished his ironclad control over his five-year-old instincts and sobbed._

* * *

><p>The mission was simple, Obito reflected. Sneak in, blow up Kannabi Bridge so that the enemy couldn't get their supplies, and get the hell out of there. But plans rarely survived first contact with the enemy. Specifically, the Iwa-nin. After some guy named Mahiru had been stalking them and attempted to kill them, Minato-sensei had done his badass "Yellow Flash" thing and killed the guy. Then he had decided that they should split up, leaving Kakashi in charge. Kakashi, who had idiotically gotten himself stabbed in the shoulder when he went rushing forward to try out his brand new jutsu on Mahiru. <em>In the middle of battle<em>. Seriously, how had this guy made jounin? Not that Obito was worried or anything. Nah. After the fact, he _definitely _didn't feel sorry for his dickish attitude towards Kakashi, even after he heard the story about Kakashi's dad, who was a hero in Obito's eyes. No siree.

Well okay, he might have felt sorry, just a tiny bit. And maybe he even respected Kakashi a little, because the guy was a damn good ninja despite all the bad shit that had happened to him, after all, seeing your dad commit suicide had to be traumatizing. But all those good feelings towards Kakashi vanished when the bastard had made the decision, as "mission leader", to leave behind Rin for the sake of completing the mission. Rin, who was Obito's future wife, who was pretty and sweet and the nicest girl in the world… No, Obito had to go off and save Rin all by himself, and his feelings towards Kakashi at that moment were anything but charitable. That is, until the bastard finally proved he had a heart under that icy demeanor and came back to help rescue their teammate.

It had been great. Him and Kakashi had fought back to back as an effective team for the first time ever, taking out the enemy until the last one of them had used a concealment jutsu. They could only trace the nin by the changes in the air currents and the sounds he made as he moved, which was especially hard for Obito. As an Uchiha his best asset was his eyes, even without the Sharingan, and this guy had completely hidden himself from sight. Kakashi's superior senses allowed him to locate the enemy, but it was too late, and he took a hit that was aimed at Obito for him. And then… the strangest thing had happened.

Obito had felt fear at the thought of Kakashi getting hurt. Strong, capable Kakashi. He had felt ashamed that he wasn't aware enough to look out for himself, and if he had just been _better, _Kakashi's eye could have been saved. But most of all, he felt **rage**. The burning desire for revenge, deep in his belly. The burning feeling then moved to his eyes, and it was suddenly as if he could _see_. He killed that bastard who cut up Kakashi's eye, stabbed him right in the heart, and every drop of blood spilled was ingrained into his mind with the Sharingan's accursed photographic memory. But there was no time to dwell on that. He had Kakashi's eye to bandage up and his future wife to save, so they set off to rescue Rin.

They found her tied up and under an interrogation genjutsu in the middle of a cave with the Iwa-nin, and Obito and Kakashi attacked in tandem. Obito's Sharingan compensated for the loss of Kakashi's eye, and the two boys had made an effective team, quickly disposing of Rin's captors. Everything was good, they had gotten Rin out from the genjutsu and her ropes cut, and they were ready to take out the last enemy at get out of there. But since he was the last one out of his now dead comrades, the Iwa-nin was a desperate man, and desperate men went to desperate measures.

The cave walls began to crumble around them as the nin made a last-ditch attempt to kill them by bringing down the cave, and they were running for their lives to get out of there before the cave collapsed on all their heads. All Obito could think about was his family, Ryuusui's and Shisui's young, bright faces looking up at him with adoration and respect and how _he had to get back to them_, the thought spurring him on even faster. Unfortunately, he was so focused on running to get back to his family that he ended up not hearing Kakashi's cry of distress until it was too late. Kakashi had been hit on his blind side with a rock, stumbling and falling.

In the ninja world, even a split second of hesitation can mean the difference between life and death. Kakashi couldn't move out of the way of the rocks and it was too late for Obito to save him. Obito cursed this fact as he had to watch, with his Sharingan active, his teammate die.

* * *

><p>Somewhere, a man in a cave sits disappointed.<p>

"Damn it all," he grumbles. "I wanted an Uchiha." He observes the silver haired boy (his name is Watashi or something similar but he can't be bothered to remember) and his look turns speculative.

"I suppose you'll have to do…"

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Notes:<span> wooOOOOooo stuff happens! I'm honestly so nervous about posting this, so please please tell me what you thought. Was it too fast? Too slow? I'd love to hear your thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6

**Last chapter:**

_In the ninja world, even a split second of hesitation can mean the difference between life and death. Kakashi couldn't move out of the way of the rocks and it was too late for Obito to save him. Obito cursed this fact as he had to watch, with his Sharingan active, his teammate die._

* * *

><p>Obito snagged Rin and held her close to him, shielding her from the rocks even as she fought to get back to Kakashi. She was screaming, watching Kakashi die and Obito thought he was going to be sick and he would probably hear those screams in his sleep for the rest of his life. The rocks stopped falling, and he vomited all over himself at the sight of Kakashi's half-crushed form. <em>I could have done something, should have done something…<em>

He was brought out of his thoughts when Rin slapped him on the face.

He clutched his wounded cheek. "Oww…" he moaned.

"Pay attention!" she said sternly, but her glistening eyes and wavering voice betrayed her. "Kakashi-kun wants to talk to you!"

A wet, hacking laugh sounded from the crushed form of Kakashi. "Obito-baka," he said, looking more peaceful than Obito had ever seen the grumpy boy. "Take care of Rin."

Obito nodded numbly. "Okay," he whispered through his tears.

"Take the kunai that Minato-sensei gave me," he continued. "Throw it and sensei will come. That's what he said. Get out of here and live, because I can't, okay?"

Rin took the three-pronged kunai from his pouch and clumsily threw it. She was sobbing, saying _Don't worry Kakashi-kun, sensei will be here soon and everything will be fine, everything will be fine—_

"And Obito," he began before breaking out into coughs. "I'm scared," Kakashi admitted in a small voice. "I don't want to die. But I'm glad that you're here. You and Rin… you were the best friends I ever had."

"No," Obito whispered brokenly. "No, no, no, no…"

But no matter how much he tried to deny it, the sight was there in front of him. Kakashi closed his eyes for the last time.

* * *

><p>It was the wait that was really killing Ryuusui.<p>

It had been over a month since Obito had left for the Kannabi Bridge mission, and still he had heard nothing. Had Shisui not been there, a steady presence ready to distract him from his woes, he probably would have garnered a lot of unwanted attention for his jumpiness and overall anxious demeanor. Still, it killed him that Shisui was the only one he could tell.

If you told a ninja that you were a time traveling consciousness stuck in a child's body, they would think you're crazy and have you locked up. And if you presented knowledge of ANBU identification codes that came from that past life, their inclination would not be to believe you, rather they would assume there was a security leak and have you locked up. There's a limit to what people believe. The only reason Ryuusui could tell Shisui is because he needed someone to talk to, someone he could trust above all else, and Shisui's age and overall close relation to Ryuusui meant he was predisposed to believing him.

"Ryuusui!" Oh, whoops. He was supposed to be playing with Itachi. The twins had taken to hanging out with the young heir at Mikoto's request. Really, all they did was keep the three-year-old from eating glue.

"Sorry, Shisui," he said with a self-deprecating smile. "I was lost in thought."

Shisui's brow furrowed in concern and he mouthed, _Was it the dream?_

Ryuusui had gone to Shisui after he had the strangest dream the other night.

_He was lying in a bed in what seemed to be inside a cave. The right half of his body was covered in what felt like a mess of bandages, and he winced at the pain that he felt. He groaned, but the strange man standing above him paid him no heed._

_"Damn it all," the man grumbled. "I wanted an Uchiha." His look turned speculative. _

_"I suppose you'll have to do…"_

The dream had left Ryuusui an extremely foreboding feeling, hence his anxiety. He couldn't help but think that it was important, somehow…

A knock at the door sounded, and though he wasn't the best at chakra sensing Ryuusui was good enough to differentiate one signature from the other. A quick chakra sweep alerted him to the identity of the knocker, and in his surprise at who it was he tore down the hall to the front door. He threw it open.

"Obito!" he cried out. "Niisan," he added as an afterthought. He stopped short when he saw the downtrodden expression on his old teammate's face, but he didn't really pay too much attention to it because he was so _happy_, Obito was alive, he had finally done something to change things, Obito was alive, he wasn't a coward, and did he mention that Obito was alive? Obito was alive alive _alive-_

"My teammate's dead." Obito blurted out. His expression crumbled and he burst into tears.

Ryuusui didn't know how to feel. Had he inadvertently caused his own death by traveling back in time? Was his younger self truly dead, or was he in the clutches of Madara? He hadn't been an Uchiha in his past life, so would Madara even be interested in his younger self? Or maybe it wasn't Madara at all. Was it Orochimaru? Danzo? Some other unknown third party? Did it really even matter?

He supposed so, if only to an extent, but… this wasn't his old life. He wasn't Hatake Kakashi anymore. He was Uchiha Ryuusui, and things would be different. Very different, if he had anything to say about it. But would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

* * *

><p><strong>Next chapter:<strong>

Ryuusui was walking around the village and was pulled into a dark alleyway when he caught a flash of yellow eyes that made the scream building up in his throat die.

"Hello, little Uchiha Ryuusui," Orochimaru purred. "Or should I say… Hatake Kakashi?"


End file.
